Night Meetings

As I begin continue preparing for my Planning Board meeting tonight (joint meeting with the Council on Growth Management....gonna be a long one)....I'm both dreading the inevitable political mess that happens when politicians get involved in ordinance administration, but yet content, knowing that I'll be nicely paid at time and a half for the meeting.

Which brings me to my question (and poll). Is it unusual for Planners to be paid overtime? I'm part of an administrative employees union, and get overtime as part of my contract.

I would think my situation is unusual, and that most planners are either sararied or get compensatory time. Am I correct in this assumption?

"Growth is inevitable and desirable, but destruction of community character is not. The question is not whether your part of the world is going to change. The question is how." -- Edward T. McMahon, The Conservation Fund

We got real candid with each other at the start

During my job interview I was very clear that if they were looking for a company man (60 hours+ a week) they could keep looking. Iíve played that bull shit game to no effect. I work a flat 40 and adjust for night meetings with comp time at a 1 to 1ratio.

Iím very happy with the way our planning program works. I even still enjoy the occasion 140 to 1 full body contact meeting with the angry anti-planning public.

If I had ambition would I still be a planner?

el Guapo is a former 20 year +/- urban planner (just like you) who thought becoming an attorney was a good life choice.

Technically, I'm salaried with no comp time. I've been working a lot of 50 to 60 hour weeks lately, too -- night meetings (two a week recently), along with doing all these little administrative things that were never done in the past 115 years. Right now, it's 6:30, and I'm going through old building pemit files. That's where clerks long past put all the variance files -- with the building permits. I'm creating a planning filing system from scratch -- nothing, nada, trying to hunt down subdivisions and site plans mixed in with old contaracts to buy new police cars and the like. At home and on weekends, I work on the development code rewrite. Come hurricane season, I'll be on call to provide tactical support to our PD, if need be. My Nextel is grafted to my hip.

HOWEVER ... my employer doesn't blink if/when I'm late, doesn't get anal about medical appointments, or think "hey, we're not paying you for that" when I'm posting a message like this one to Cyburbia. Remember, as the sole planner, I'm the planning director (and code enforcement officer, landscape architect, acting IT director, Webmaster, editor of the town newsletter, and graphic designer), so I set my own hours. It's my choice to work long hours -- if I didn't, though, the office would be even more of a mess than it is now.

Previous jobs ... we planners kept track of our comp time down to the second, but then again, our supervisors kept track of every second we were out to lunch, or getting our teeth drilled, or whatever.

Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey

I'm unionized (and will probably be on strike within the next two months!), but we don't get overtime. Instead, we can choose to be paid for evening meetings at straight time, or get time-and-a-half in lieu/comp time. I've been taking the lieu time as I've only been with the City for about 9 months and don't have vacation days built up yet.

I might have a life...

My first job was great, paid for my regular day, and paid per meeting at night. Nice bit of extra cash.

Now, I get time off for the hours I work late for meetings, at a 1:1 ratio. Fortunately I don't have too many meetings, but since the beginning of the year I have about 30 hours of over time, and have just recently been authorized to put in additional hours becuase we are getting behind, no matter how hard we try to keep up. Becuase we still put in a bit of extra time, no one complains if I leave a bit early some days or so - I challenge anyone who does to get in before I do in the morning.

We have a 35 hour work week, and get 3.5 hours of comp time for night meetings, regardless of how long they run. This week's planning board meeting ran 50 minutes. The week before went 4 hours. So in the end, I end up making out a little bit better time wise. As far as doctor visits, emergencies, etc, every one pretty much keeps track of themselves, very laid back office.

I get comp time at a 1:1 ratio although I'm encouraged not to work extra unless absolutely necessary. Actually I don't think it's the work they object to it's the comp time; when I don't claim it no one seems to care that I'm working extra hours.

If we don't use comp time in 3 months it falls off the books as if it never existed with an infant I actually find I use it some otherwise I suspect I'd be loosing almost all of it.

Night Meetings

Hey, its good to be back. I finally reregistered (and Dan sent me my password).

Everyone above the Assistant Planner (introductory/journeyman level) is considered "Management," and it is assumed that there may be weeks with extra hours. But, as a "Long Range Planner," I don't have that many night meetings.

Our informal policy is that you can leave a half hour or so early on night meeting days if you need to take care of business before the meeting. And, while we don't really get time off for the night meetings, weekend workshops are considered "extra," and we can informally take time off for that.